Category Archives: Familia

As part of my mission to raise bilingual and bi-cultural children, I love taking the family to community and cultural events. It’s not only important, but an absolute necessity that a bilingual child be exposed the a second language/culture from many angles in order to value the relevancy of the language in every day life. The following is a list of many of the organizations/businesses that host events that I keep on my radar. Most (if not all) of these events are family friendly. The list in an evolving work in progress.

Voz– an organization that empowers immigrants and day laborers to gain control over their working conditions through leadership development, organizing, and community education

KBOO Community Radio (90.7 fm in the Portland area) Every Sunday from noon to 7pm is programming in Spanish of interest to the Portland area

PCUN Radio Station-Oregon’s Farmworker Union Radio Station out of Woodburn, Oregon has children’s programming (think Alvin and the Chipmunks in Spanish) on Saturdays from 2-5 pm. You can stream it here.

Thank you for your letter. You asked a very good question: “Are you Santa?”

I know you’ve wanted the answer to this question for a long time, and I’ve had to give it careful thought to know just what to say.

The answer is no. I am not Santa. There is no one Santa.

I am the person who fills your stockings with presents, though. I also choose and wrap the presents under the tree, the same way my mom did for me, and the same way her mom did for her. (And yes, Daddy helps, too.)

I imagine you will someday do this for your children, and I know you will love seeing them run down the Christmas magic stairs on Christmas morning. You will love seeing them sit under the tree, their small faces lit with Christmas lights.

This won’t make you Santa, though.

Santa is bigger than any person, and his work has gone on longer than any of us have lived. What he does is simple, but it is powerful. He teaches children how to have belief in something they can’t see or touch.

It’s a big job, and it’s an important one. Throughout your life, you will need this capacity to believe: in yourself, in your friends, in your talents and in your family. You’ll also need to believe in things you can’t measure or even hold in your hand. Here, I am talking about love, that great power that will light your life from the inside out, even during its darkest, coldest moments.

Santa is a teacher, and I have been his student, and now you know the secret of how he gets down all those chimneys on Christmas Eve: he has help from all the people whose hearts he’s filled with joy.

With full hearts, people like Daddy and me take our turns helping Santa do a job that would otherwise be impossible.

So, no, I am not Santa. Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness. I’m on his team, and now you are, too.

In my quest to make holidays meaningful for my family, I find myself researching age appropriate crafts for my kids to make as gifts and decorations.

I found this easy Valentine’s Day craft on Surviving Motherhood and made one with my 4-year old. She loved it and plays with it and it is a cute reminder of our love for each other.

While I love the idea of passing out Valentine’s cards as a way to take a moment to show each and every person your love and appreciation, I am not a fan of the cookie-cutter 30-per-box punch-out cards (now with candy!) that are commonplace today. Here a few creative alternatives:

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon – a statewide association of Christian denominations —including Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox bodies—congregations, ecumenical organizations and interfaith partners working together to improve the lives of Oregonians through community ministry pograms, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, environmental ministry and public policy advocacy.

Adelante Mujeres – working to educate and empower low-income Latina women and families. We provide low-income Latina women and families the tools to achieve self-determination in the areas of education, empowerment and enterprise.

Elders in Action – To assure a vibrant community through the active involvement of older adults

TRUCE – Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment (TRUCE) is a national group of educators who work to counteract the harmful impact of media and marketing on children.

Call it a fad or a trend, I have fallen victim to the idea that the best way to feed my family is to look to local farmers and ranchers as much as possible. The way I see it, I am not only supporting our local economy, environment and preserving open lands, but I am also providing my family with fresh, healthy, seasonal food, avoiding toxic chemicals, avoiding genetically modified foods and teaching my kids about REAL FOOD.

“Each of us shares in the lasting success of local agriculture. No longer will I assume that food just appears at the supermarket regardless of the season. The local growers who provide my sustenance are people I need to know. I understand that their livelihood is intimately connected to the vibrancy of my community. It matters to me how my food is grown and that it comes from nearby. Paying full worth for a life-enhancing food supply is more than a matter of shopping for the lowest price. Making agriculture sustainable is as much my responsibility as the farmer’s.”

Like with most things in life, it is definitely the journey and not the destination that I find pleasurable. While I am far from my goal of eating 100% locally and seasonally, I’ve noticed that recently I’ve even found the supermarket to be somewhat awkward. I’ve always been a supporter of farmer’s markets and was thrilled when I was offered a job with the Beaverton Farmer’s Market. Now there will be no excuse for me not to shop locally during the market season. But, what to do during those long, rainy winter months? We have to eat! Here are a few options in the Portland Area:

This is the story of a girl, the youngest of 4 born in Oregon in 1976. The little girl was born to a German immigrant mother and a father from a Oklahoma farming family. The little girl spent summers on her grandmother’s hazelnut orchard (filberts, to us locals) in the fertile Willamette Valley helping tend the massive garden, can and process food and the most dreadful chore of all-collecting the fruit and nuts from the trees. It was a family affair and nobody could escape, no matter how creative the children got with their arguments. During the school year they were expected to maintain good grades and help with their fathers business (tax accounting) by cleaning, stuffing envelopes and door-to-door flier drops and later filing and office duties. Now, don’t think that the little girl spent her whole youth working. She lived in a wonderful neighborhood full of young families and had many friends to play with when she was done with her chores.

The little girl had a bit of a problem. She was born with this condition – maybe you’ve heard of it – called strong will. She got it from her father. It’s effects are intense throughout the lifespan, but can be particularly dangerous during the adolescent years. Yes, she went through some trying times, as did her parents, during those years. The little girl managed to pass, unharmed for the most part, through those years. Much to her dismay, her condition has been passed to her first born daughter, a fact that is frequently discussed at family gatherings.

She became a young adult, publicly educated and ready to enter the world. Unfortunately, she had spent little time preparing for this transition and didn’t quite know what to do. So she did what many young adults do in similar situations-she got a job, some roommates and PARTIED!! Yes, those were fun times for the girl. Sadly, her job couldn’t accommodate her life style so it had to go. Two years later (and about $20,000 in credit card debt) the girl decided it was time for a change. She downsized her extravagant lifestyle, took two jobs and worked very hard. After about a year and a half she managed to pay off the debt and save enough for a congratulatory backpacking trip to Europe.

During that year and a half the young lady spent much of her time at her mother’s house (free food!). It was a newly built house, in a recently cleared area and there was a great deal of construction activity going on in the area. One day the young lady decided to see how much Spanish she could remember from her high school years. She started a conversation with the construction workers next door. Among them was one, a very persistent fellow from the central highlands of Mexico. This man was new to the country, he had been here for only a few months and didn’t yet speak the language very well at all. He did, however, play the guitar. Now, the girl hadn’t noticed this particular fellow yet. You see, her Spanish was not very good and she spent most of the “conversations” talking with the fellows who already spoke English asking them how to say this and that. One afternoon, during his lunch break, the persistent young man came to the mothers front porch and started to play a song for the girl. It was a song that the girl happened to be quite fond of. After that, he told her that she had “eyes beauty” and asked for her phone number.

The girl and the fellow quickly became inseparable. She taught him American customs and language, he gave her music, dancing and a love for Mexican food and cooking. A few years later the couple married. The girl decided that being a lover of culture and adventure, she had better learn his language to be able to communicate with his family. The girl, now a woman, went to the university and learned to read and write Spanish. She learned to speak it and truly understand it from the young man and from many trips to his mother’s house in his hometown.

A few months after graduation, the woman had a baby, a little girl Dolores. She was (and continues to be) a spirited little girl. Fifteen months later, little Junior was born. A quiet baby, Junior has always been a lover and still refuses to get out of his mama’s bed. Eighteen months later little Maria came and along with her was born a strong faith in God. The young woman still struggles to identify herself with a particular religious sect, but her faith was cemented by the miraculous birth of Maria. The family was completed with the birth of Moises.

The woman now spends much time in contemplation. There are still many adventures to come. She is humbled by the awesome opportunity and responsibility of cultivating her own (albeit small) legacy. She looks forward to each day that her children are still young and innocent, for those times pass quickly and are never relived.